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Grumman F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a large twin engined naval air superiority fighter. At the time of the '91 Disaster it was one of the premier fighters in the United States arsenal. Design The failure of the General Dynamics F-111B to meet US Navy requirements for an advanced carrier-based air-superiority fighter led to a new design contest which was won by Grumman with its variable-geometry, two-seat, twin-engine aircraft designated the F-14. Named the Tomcat, procurement began in 1969 for 700 aircraft. Deliveries to the Navy began in June 1972, with the initial deployment of operational carrier squadrons in 1974. The ability to sweep its wings aft 43 degrees from the horizontal, coupled with twin 21,000-lb-thrust engines enabled the F-14 to achieve speeds in excess of twice the speed of sound. The F-14, with its Phoenix air-to-air missiles, coupled with airborne early-warning aircraft radar, was able to simultaneously intercept, engage and destroy up to six incoming enemy aircraft out to distances in excess of one hundred miles from a carrier task force. The F-14 was later used in the ground-attack role as well. Operators Despite interest from Iran, a ban was imposed on its export there as the Shah was too close to the New Commonwealth and was increasingly unstable for the Americans to risk selling it to them. Therefore it remained primarily a product for the US market serving with the carrier based forces of the US Navy. A handful served with the Argentinians during the Falklands War but their contribution was marginal. When the Republic of Texas and the Californian Republic broke away from the Federal United States of America (FUSA) in 1992 they both inherited sizable forces of Tomcats. These were then used to defend the two new countries against Federal forces in the north and Mexican forces in the south. It is known that a single F-14A Tomcat belly landed in Australia during the '91 Disaster and was subsequently repaired and used for evaluation purposes by the New Commonwealth air forces. Combat History The '91 Disaster The F-14 was much feared by New Commonwealth and Soviet pilots who faced it. In the navies of the New Commonwealth there was no equivilent type as the CAC Phantom FG.3 was not as capable. The main fear was the sheer range of the AIM-54 Phoenix however in combat this advantage was quickly negated by the sophisticated jamming capability of aircraft such as the Sea Vixen EF.3. This meant that USN and New Commonwealth pilots often had to 'mix it' in close quarters where the Tomcat still had the advantage. That being true however post war results of dogfights show that both sides were quite evenly matched in this respect. Against Soviet and Chinese pilots however it was very different. The older generation of Soviet fighters were shot down in shockingly high numbers while the newer aircraft such as the MiG-29 and Su-27 could hold their own reasonably well but were still at a disadvantage in terms of training. Category:Aircraft